Methods and apparatus supporting random access procedures in a wireless network

ABSTRACT

A method performed by a wireless device (130) is described herein. The wireless device (130) operates in a wireless communications network (100). The wireless device (130) provides (602) a message to be sent to a network node (110) operating in the wireless communications network (100). The message is a first scheduled message to be sent to the network node (110) in a random access procedure. The message comprises a first indicator (707) of a type of the message. The type of message has: a) a fixed size SDU (702), and b) a one byte header (704) comprising the first indicator (707) and lacking a second indicator (713) of a length of a payload. The wireless device (130) also initiates sending (603) the provided message to the network node (110). Also described is a method performed by the network node (110) receiving (1307) and initiating processing (1302) the message, based on the first indicator (707).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a wireless device andmethods performed thereby for providing a message to be sent to anetwork node serving the wireless device. The present disclosure alsorelates generally to a second node, and methods performed therebyprocessing the message from the wireless device served by the networknode.

BACKGROUND

Communication devices within a wireless communications network may bewireless devices such as e.g., User Equipments (UEs), stations (STAs),mobile terminals, wireless terminals, terminals, and/or Mobile Stations(MS). Wireless devices are enabled to communicate wirelessly in acellular communications network or wireless communication network,sometimes also referred to as a cellular radio system, cellular system,or cellular network. The communication may be performed e.g., betweentwo wireless devices, between a wireless device and a regular telephone,and/or between a wireless device and a server via a Radio Access Network(RAN), and possibly one or more core networks, comprised within thewireless communications network. Wireless devices may further bereferred to as mobile telephones, cellular telephones, laptops, ortablets with wireless capability, just to mention some further examples.The wireless devices in the present context may be, for example,portable, pocket-storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, orvehicle-mounted mobile devices, enabled to communicate voice and/ordata, via the RAN, with another entity, such as another terminal or aserver.

Communication devices may also be network nodes, such as radio networknodes, e.g., Transmission Points (TP). The wireless communicationsnetwork covers a geographical area which may be divided into cell areas,each cell area being served by a network node such as a Base Station(BS), e.g. a Radio Base Station (RBS), which sometimes may be referredto as e.g., gNB, evolved Node B (“eNB”), “eNodeB”, “NodeB”, “B node”, orBTS (Base Transceiver Station), depending on the technology andterminology used. The base stations may be of different classes such ase.g. Wide Area Base Stations, Medium Range Base Stations, Local AreaBase Stations and Home Base Stations, based on transmission power andthereby also cell size. A cell is the geographical area where radiocoverage is provided by the base station at a base station site. Onebase station, situated on the base station site, may serve one orseveral cells. Further, each base station may support one or severalcommunication technologies. The wireless communications network may alsobe a non-cellular system, comprising network nodes which may servereceiving nodes, such as wireless devices, with serving beams. In 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), basestations, which may be referred to as eNodeBs or even eNBs, may bedirectly connected to one or more core networks. In the context of thisdisclosure, the expression Downlink (DL) may be used for thetransmission path from the base station to the wireless device. Theexpression Uplink (UL) may be used for the transmission path in theopposite direction i.e., from the wireless device to the base station.

NR

The so-called Fifth Generation (5G) system, from a radio perspective,started to be standardized in 3GPP, and the so-called New Radio (NR) isthe name for the radio interface. One of the characteristics of NR isthat the frequency range may use higher frequencies than LTE, e.g.,above 6 GHz, where it is known to have more challenging propagationconditions such as a higher penetration loss. To mitigate some of theseeffects, multi-antenna technologies such as beamforming may be massivelyused. Yet another NR characteristic may be considered to be the use ofmultiple numerologies in DL and UL in a cell or for a UE and/or indifferent frequency bands. Yet another characteristic may be consideredto be the possibility to enable shorter latencies. NR architecture isbeing discussed in 3GPP. In the current concept, gNB denotes NR BS, oneNR BS may correspond to one or more transmission/reception points.

At RAN Meeting #78 in December 2017, the first 3GPP standard version forthe 5G New Radio (NR) Access Technology was released. The Decemberversion of 3GPP has been focused on Non-standalone (NSA) NR whilestandalone (SA) NR will be the focus on the June 2018 version.

Information Processing in NR

Information, e.g., packets, may be processed by a network by flowingthrough a stack of so-called layers. A packet that may be received by alayer is called a Service Data Unit (SDU), while a packet that may beoutput by a layer may be referred to as a Protocol Data Unit (PDU). Thepresent disclosure may be understood to be related to the MAC layer inNR. Further specifically, the current disclosure may be understood to berelated to how to construct a MAC PDU in NR.

As specified by the current December 2017 version of TS 38.321, the UEmay use a subheader format of either size 2 or 3 bytes to indicate anyMedium Access Control (MAC) Service Data Unit (SDU).

Further Details of the Existing Technology on how to Construct a MAC PDU

A MAC PDU consists of one or more MAC subPDUs. Each MAC subPDU consistsof one of the following: a) a MAC subheader only, including padding; b)a MAC subheader and a MAC SDU; c) a MAC subheader and a MAC ControlElement (CE); and d) a MAC subheader and padding.

A MAC subheader for fixed sized MAC CE and padding consists of the twoheader fields: the Reserved bit (R) and the Logical Channel Identifierfield (LCID), which may be referred to collectively as a R/LCIDsubheader. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting an R/LCID MACsubheader 10 from 3GPP TS 38.321, v15.0.0, FIG. 6.1.2-3. The R/LCID MACsubheader comprises an octet (Octet 1) 11, and 8 bits, as indicated bythe marked line 12 at the top of the Figure. As schematicallyrepresented in FIG. 1, the R/LCID MAC subheader 10 comprises a first Rfield 13, a second R field 14 and the LCID field 15.

A MAC subheader, except for fixed sized MAC CE and padding, consists ofthe four header fields R/F/LCID/L, where “F” is the Format field “L” isthe Length field. It is provided in two formats, with an 8-bit L-fieldand with a 16-bit L-field. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram depicting anR/F/LCID/L MAC subheader 20 with an 8-bit L field from 3GPP TS 38.321,v15.0.0, FIG. 6.1.2-1. As schematically represented in FIG. 2, theR/LCID MAC subheader 20 comprises, in a first octet 21, an first R field22, the F field 23 and the LCID field 24, and, in a second octet 25, the8-bit L field 26.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram depicting an R/F/LCID/L MAC subheader 30with 16-bit L field in 3GPP TS 38.321, v15.0.0, FIG. 6.1.2-2. Asschematically represented in FIG. 3, the R/F/LCID/L MAC subheader 30comprises, in a first octet 31, the same fields described in the firstoctet 21 of FIG. 2, and in a second octet 32 and third octet 33, a16-bit L field 34.

Table 1 depicts the Values of LCID for the Uplink SynchronizationCHannel (UL-SCH), from 3GPP TS 38.321, v 15.0.0, Table 6.2.1-2. Thevalues of LCIDs corresponding to MAC SDU may be one among 000000-100000,while 110111-111111 has been allocated for some MAC CE.

TABLE 1 Index LCID values 000000 CCCH 000001-100000 Identity of thelogical channel 100001-110110 Reserved 110111 Configured GrantConfirmation 111000 Multiple Entry PHR 111001 Single Entry PHR 111010C-RNTI 111011 Short Truncated BSR 111100 Long Truncated BSR 111101 ShortBSR 111110 Long BSR 111111 PaddingRandom Access in NR

When a UE is trying to get access to a network, it may do so byperforming the so-called Random Access Procedure. It may be understoodthat at this stage, the UE does not have any resource or channelavailable to inform the network about its desire to establish aconnection, so it may be understood to have to send its initial requestover the shared medium. The random access procedure may be used by e.g.,idle or inactive UEs who wish to connect to the network for datatransmissions. The random access procedure may be used also by connectedUEs for various reasons such as Beam failure recovery, hand over andregaining of UL synchronization. The random access procedure may becarried out for different reasons and be either Contention Based RandomAccess procedure (CBRA) or Contention Free Random Access procedure(CFRA). The CBRA may start with a preamble selection and transmissionfrom the UE. The gNB may respond with a random access response (RAR),which may include a Temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier(C-RNTI), Timing Advance (TA) value and a grant for a Message 3 (Msg3).The Msg3 may be scheduled on the Physical Uplink Shared CHannel (PUSCH),as indicated by the grant received in the Random Access Response (RAR).In many CBRA cases, the Msg3 may comprise a Radio Resource Control (RRC)message, either the RRC connection request, RRC connectionre-establishment request, or RRC connection resume request message,which may be understood to restrict its size. The RRC message may be afirst RRC message sent on the Common Control Channel (CCCH). Msg3 may beunderstood to be the third message in the NR random access procedure andto carry the RRC connection request, RRC connection re-establishmentrequest, and RRC connection resume request messages.

In case of CFRA, the UE may be in connected mode and may use a 16 bitC-RNTI as identifier, while CBRA, when carried out by Idle or inactiveUEs, may need to supply a UE identity which may be understood to besignificantly larger.

Sizes of Msg3 in NR are not yet finally agreed, but a possible outcomemay be as described in R2-1801162, Size of MSG3 in NR, Ericsson, 3GPPTSG-RAN #NR AH1801, Jan. 22-26, 2018: 1) RRC Connection Request: 46bits, wherein the octet-alignment may result in 6 bytes; 2) RRC ResumeRequest: 81 bits, wherein the octet-alignment may result in 11 bytes;and 3) RRC Connection re-establishment request 43 bits, wherein theoctet-alignment may result in 6 bytes.

In addition to this, a MAC subheader of 2 bytes may be added to the Msg3size. This may result in that the minimum size of the grant for Msg3 mayneed to be 8 bytes for RRC Connection Request, 13 bytes for RRC ResumeRequest and again 8 bytes for RRC Connection re-establishment request.As these RRC messages may be sent on Signalling Radio Bearer 0 (SRB0),which may use transparent mode in Radio Link Control Transparent mode(RLC TM), the RRC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) may not be sent in segmentsbut may have to be sent within a single transport block.

MAC SDU for Common Control CHannel (CCCH)

The CCCH may be understood as the logical channel that may be used totransmit RRC messages on SRB0. The subheader for a Common ControlCHannel (CCCH) SDU in Msg3 currently consists of the following fields:

-   -   The Reserved bit (R), set to “0”;    -   The Logical Channel ID field (LCID), which may be understood to        identify the logical channel CCCH with LCID=000000;    -   The Format field (F), set to “0” thus indicating an L-field of 8        bits, for a CCCH SDU payload of a variable size of up to 511        bytes. Technically, the value 1 is also available for larger        payloads, but it may be considered that there may be no        realistic use for a larger CCCH payload;    -   The Length field (L), which may be understood to be used to set        the size of the CCCH SDU.

The MAC SDU corresponding to CCCH starts at the next byte.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram depicting examples of an Msg3 payload CCCHSDU, according to existing technology. The example on the top panel a),shows a MAC SDU for CCCH RLC-TM of 6 bytes 41. The example at the bottompanel b) shows a MAC SDU for CCCH RLC-TM of 11 bytes 42. In both panels,the horizontal marked line 43 at the top of each panel indicates thenumber of bits, and the vertical marked line 44 on the left of eachpanel indicates the number of bytes. Both of the MAC SDU for CCCH RLC-TMof 6 bytes 41 and the MAC SDU for CCCH RLC-TM of 11 bytes 42 arepreceded by a respective subheader comprising, in a first octet, an Rfield 45, a F field 46 comprising a value of “0”, and a CCCH field 47with the value “000000”, and, in a second octet an L field 48. In panela), the L field 48 comprises the value “00000110”, whereas on panel b),the L field 48 comprises the value “00001011”. Both of the MAC SDU forCCCH RLC-TM of 6 bytes 41 and the MAC SDU for CCCH RLC-TM of 11 bytes 42are followed by three octets comprising Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)sequences 49.

Existing methods to establish a connection between a wireless device anda network node, with the information processing technology described,may result in wasted resources, and/or limited coverage.

SUMMARY

It is an object of embodiments herein to improve random accessoperations in a wireless communications network.

According to a first aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a method performed by a wireless device. The wireless deviceoperates in the wireless communications network. The wireless deviceprovides a message to be sent to a network node operating in thewireless communications network. The message is a first scheduledmessage to be sent to the network node in a random access procedure. Themessage comprises a first indicator of a type of the message. The typeof message has: a) a fixed size SDU, and b) a one byte header comprisingthe first indicator and lacking a second indicator of a length of apayload. The wireless device also initiates sending the provided messageto the network node.

According to a second aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a method performed by a network node. The network nodeoperates in the wireless communications network. The network nodereceives the message from the wireless device operating in the wirelesscommunications network. The message is the first scheduled messagereceived by the network node in the random access procedure. The messagecomprises the first indicator of the type of the message. The type ofmessage has: a) the fixed size SDU, and b) the one byte headercomprising the first indicator and lacking the second indicator of thelength of the payload. The network node also initiates processing thereceived message, based on the first indicator.

According to a third aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a wireless device. The wireless device is configured tooperate in the wireless communications network. The wireless device isfurther configured to provide the message to be sent to the network nodeconfigured to operate in the wireless communications network. Themessage is a first scheduled message to be sent to the network node in arandom access procedure. The message comprises a first indicator of atype of the message. The type of message has: a) the fixed size SDU andb) the one byte header comprising the first indicator and lacking thesecond indicator of the length of the payload. The wireless device isalso configured to initiate sending the provided message to the networknode.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by the network node. The network node is configured to operatein the wireless communications network. The network node is furtherconfigured to receive the message from the wireless device configured tooperate in the wireless communications network. The message is the firstscheduled message received by the network node in the random accessprocedure. The message comprises the first indicator of the type of themessage. The type of message has: a) the fixed size SDU and b) the onebyte header comprising the first indicator and lacking the secondindicator of the length of the payload. The first node is furtherconfigured to initiate processing the received message, based on thefirst indicator.

According to a fifth aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a wireless device comprising a processing circuitry and amemory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processingcircuitry, whereby the wireless device is operative to provide themessage to be sent to the network node comprised in the wirelesscommunications network. The message is the first scheduled message to besent to the network node in the random access procedure. The messagecomprises the first indicator of the type of the message. The type ofmessage has: a) the fixed size SDU and b) the one byte header comprisingthe first indicator and lacking the second indicator of the length ofthe payload. The memory also contains instructions executable by theprocessing circuitry, whereby the wireless device is further operativeto initiate sending the provided message to the network node.

According to a sixth aspect of embodiments herein, the object isachieved by a network node comprising a processing circuitry and amemory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processingcircuitry, whereby the network node is operative to receive the messagefrom the wireless device comprised in the wireless communicationsnetwork. The message is the first scheduled message received by thenetwork node in the random access procedure. The message comprises thefirst indicator of the type of the message. The type of message has: a)the fixed size SDU, and b) the one byte header comprising the firstindicator and lacking the second indicator of the length of the payload.The memory also contains instructions executable by the processingcircuitry, whereby the network node is further operative to initiateprocessing the received message, based on the first indicator.

By the wireless device providing the message comprising the firstindicator of the type of the message, using the fixed size SDU, thewireless device is enabled to flexibly provide the first type of messagewith a size shrunk by a factor of ⅛. The first indicator in the messageenables the network node to be aware of the type of message receivedfrom the wireless device, and initiate processing it accordingly.Therefore, flexibility is conferred to the wireless device during randomaccess, and the possibility of saving resources is enabled, increasingthe capacity of the wireless communications network, reducing latency,and increasing coverage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings, and according to the followingdescription.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting a R/LCID MAC subheader in 3GPPTS 38.321, v15.0.0 (FIG. 6.1.2-3).

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram depicting a R/F/LCID/L MAC subheader with8-bit L field in 3GPP TS 38.321, v15.0.0 (FIG. 6.1.2-1).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram depicting a R/F/LCID/L MAC subheader with16-bit L field in 3GPP TS 38.321, v15.0.0 (FIG. 6.1.2-2).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram depicting an Msg3 payload CCCH SDU inexisting technology.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wireless communicationsnetwork, according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting a method in a wireless device, accordingto embodiments herein.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram depicting a fixed (a) and variable (b)sized CCCH SDU, according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram depicting a Short BSR and Short TruncatedBSR MAC CE, that may be used according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram depicting a Single Entry PHR MAC CE, thatmay be used according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram depicting a R/LCID MAC subheader,according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram depicting a C-RNTI MAC CE, according toembodiments herein.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram depicting a Fixed Msg3 size for CCCH (a),an a Fixed Mag3 size for a connected user (b), according to embodimentsherein.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart depicting a method in a network node, accordingto embodiments herein.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram illustrating two non-limitingexamples, a) and b), of a wireless device, according to embodimentsherein.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating two non-limitingexamples, a) and b), of a network node, according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a telecommunicationnetwork connected via an intermediate network to a host computer,according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 17 is a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicatingvia a base station with a user equipment over a partially wirelessconnection, according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in acommunications system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in acommunications system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in acommunications system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, according to embodiments herein.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in acommunications system including a host computer, a base station and auser equipment, according to embodiments herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As part of the development of embodiments herein, one or more problemswith the existing technology will first be identified and discussed.

During random access, Msg3 may be understood as the first scheduledmessage, that is, the first scheduled message by the network, that maybe sent by a UE, and the first message that may be sent on the PhysicalUplink Shared CHannel (PUSCH). At this stage, the channel conditions maynot be fully known, and it may be understood to be important that Msg3may be constructed in a way as to ensure as robust a transfer aspossible. Since the content of Msg3 may also be understood to be unknownto the gNB, the gNB may need to ensure that the grant is large enough tofit the Msg3. To issue grants which are too large will waste resources,and also limit coverage. This is why it may be understood to beimportant to fine tune the grant size to the minimum of what may beneeded. Any saving in grant size may be understood to have a positiveeffect on all Msg3 transmissions by not issuing resources which are notused.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments mayprovide solutions to this challenge or other challenges. There are,proposed herein, various embodiments which address one or more of theissues disclosed herein.

Embodiments herein may be understood to address this problem in existingmethods by providing a Msg3 as a fixed-size SDU, and providing a 1-byteheader format without an L-field for its transfer.

Further, by recognizing there are just few use cases where Msg3 may besent with not fully known channel conditions, the solution suggestsseparate LCIDs for fixed-size SDUs. Particular embodiments herein may beunderstood to be related to MAC subheader for CCCH payload.

Some of the embodiments contemplated will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichexamples are shown. In this section, the embodiments herein will beillustrated in more detail by a number of exemplary embodiments. Otherembodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subjectmatter disclosed herein. The disclosed subject matter should not beconstrued as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather,these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope ofthe subject matter to those skilled in the art. Several embodiments arecomprised herein. It should be noted that the exemplary embodimentsherein are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may betacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will beobvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be usedin the other exemplary embodiments.

Note that although terminology from LTE/5G has been used in thisdisclosure to exemplify the embodiments herein, this should not be seenas limiting the scope of the embodiments herein to only theaforementioned system. Other wireless systems with similar features, mayalso benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a non-limiting example of a wireless communicationsnetwork 100, sometimes also referred to as a wireless communicationssystem, cellular radio system, or cellular network, in which embodimentsherein may be implemented. The wireless communications network 100 maytypically be a 5G system, 5G network, or Next Gen System or network. Thewireless communications network 100 may alternatively be a youngersystem than a 5G system. The wireless communications network 100 maysupport other technologies such as, for example, Long-Term Evolution(LTE), LTE-Advanced/LTE-Advanced Pro, e.g., LTE Frequency DivisionDuplex (FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), LTE Half-Duplex FrequencyDivision Duplex (HD-FDD), LTE operating in an unlicensed band, NB-IoT.Thus, although terminology from 5G/NR and LTE may be used in thisdisclosure to exemplify embodiments herein, this should not be seen aslimiting the scope of the embodiments herein to only the aforementionedsystem.

The wireless communications network 100 comprises a plurality of networknodes, whereof a network node 110 is depicted in the non-limitingexample of FIG. 5. The network node 110 may be a radio network node,such as a radio base station, or any other network node with similarfeatures capable of serving a wireless device, such as a user equipmentor a machine type communication device, in the wireless communicationsnetwork 100. In typical embodiments, the network node 110 may be atransmission point operating on NR, for example a New Radio (NR) NodeB(gNB). In some examples, the network node 110 may be radio base stationoperating on LTE, such as an eNB.

The wireless communications network 100 covers a geographical area whichmay be divided into cell areas, wherein each cell area may be served bya network node, although, one radio network node may serve one orseveral cells. The wireless communications network 100 comprises atleast a cell 120. In the non-limiting example depicted in FIG. 5, thenetwork node 110 serves the cell 120. The network node 110 may be ofdifferent classes, such as, e.g., macro base station (BS), home BS orpico BS, based on transmission power and thereby also cell size. Thenetwork node 110 may be directly connected to one or more core networks,which are not depicted in FIG. 5 to simplify the Figure. In someexamples, the network node 110 may be a distributed node, such as avirtual node in the cloud, and it may perform its functions entirely onthe cloud, or partially, in collaboration with a radio network node.

A plurality of wireless devices are located in the wirelesscommunication network 100, whereof a wireless device 130, which may alsobe referred to as a device, is depicted in the non-limiting example ofFIG. 5. The wireless device 130, e.g., a 5G UE, may be a wirelesscommunication device which may also be known as e.g., a UE, a mobileterminal, wireless terminal and/or mobile station, a mobile telephone,cellular telephone, or laptop with wireless capability, just to mentionsome further examples. The wireless device 130 may be, for example,portable, pocket-storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or avehicle-mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and/or data,via the RAN, with another entity, such as a server, a laptop, a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), or a tablet, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) device,device equipped with a wireless interface, such as a printer or a filestorage device, modem, or any other radio network unit capable ofcommunicating over a radio link in a communications system. The wirelessdevice 130 comprised in the wireless communications network 100 isenabled to communicate wirelessly in the wireless communications network100. The communication may be performed e.g., via a RAN, and possiblythe one or more core networks, which may be comprised within thewireless communications network 100.

The wireless device 130 may be configured to communicate in the wirelesscommunications network 100 with the network node 110 over a link 140,e.g., a radio link, although communication over more links may bepossible.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according totheir ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless adifferent meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context inwhich it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referringto at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methodsdisclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact orderdisclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following orpreceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step mustfollow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whereverappropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may applyto any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features andadvantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from thefollowing description.

In general, the usage of “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth” and/or“fifth” herein may be understood to be an arbitrary way to denotedifferent elements or entities, and may be understood to not confer acumulative or chronological character to the nouns they modify, unlessotherwise noted, based on context.

Several embodiments are comprised herein. It should be noted that theexamples herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from oneembodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodimentand it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how thosecomponents may be used in the other exemplary embodiments.

More specifically, the following are: a) embodiments related to awireless device, such as the wireless device 130, e.g., a 5G UE; and b)embodiments related to a network node, such as the network node 110,e.g., a gNB.

A method, performed by the wireless device 130 is described herein.Embodiments of the method performed by the wireless device 130 will nowbe described with reference to the flowchart depicted in FIG. 6. Themethod may be understood to be for providing a message to be sent to thenetwork node 110 serving the wireless device 130. The wireless device130 operates in the communications network 100. The network node 110 mayalso be understood to operate in the wireless communications network100. The wireless communications network 100 may operate on NR.

The method may comprise the following actions. In some embodiments allthe actions may be performed. In some embodiments, one or more actionsmay be performed. One or more embodiments may be combined, whereapplicable. All possible combinations are not described to simplify thedescription. Components from one example may be tacitly assumed to bepresent in another example and it will be obvious to a person skilled inthe art how those components may be used in the other examples. In FIG.6, an optional action is indicated with dashed lines. Some actions maybe performed in a different order than that shown in FIG. 6.

Some embodiments herein will be further described with some non-limitingexamples to facilitate the embodiments herein.

Action 601

In the course of communications in the wireless communications network100, the wireless device 130 may, for example, move within thegeographical area covered by the wireless communications network 100,and it may detect the cell 120 of the network node 110. If the wirelessdevice 130 desires to establish a connection with the network node 110,it may then initiate a random access procedure, which may be understoodto involve exchanging some messages with, in this case, the network node110. Very succinctly, the wireless device 130 may first send a preambleto the network node 110, and in response the network node 110 may send aresponse to the wireless device 130 comprising, among other information,a grant of uplink resource the wireless device 130 may then use to senda message to the network node 110.

The message to be sent to the network node 110 may be of a type. In someembodiments, the type of message may have one or more features relatedto a size of the SDU to be comprised in the message to be sent, such asfor example, a fixed size SDU or a variable size SDU, which will bedescribed further down.

According to some embodiments herein, in this Action 601, the wirelessdevice 130 may select a type of message to be sent to the network node110. The selecting in this Action 601 of the type of message may bebased on at least one of: a) a size of the grant that may have beenreceived from the network node 110 to transmit the message, b) thepreamble that may have been sent by the wireless device 130, e.g., tothe network node 110, and c) a grouping of the sent preamble.

The preamble may be used by the wireless device 130 to request a grantsize large enough to transmit the selected message.

A grouping of the preamble may be understood herein as referring to aset of preambles the preamble may belong to, e.g., preamble group A andpreamble group B. The grouping of the sent preamble may be related tothe size of the message, and therefore of the type of message that maybe sent. This may be understood to be because one way to handle grantassignment may be to use a minimum grant for CBRA using preamble groupA, i.e., setting the ra-Msg3SizeGroupA to the minimum grant size. If thewireless device 130, e.g., a UE, wishes to transmit a Msg3 larger thanthe minimum grant size, it may need to use preamble group B which may beunderstood to use a larger grant. Preamble group B may then handle casesrequiring a larger grant such as RRC Resume Request.

The grant may be understood to comprise transmission parametersassociated to the grant, e.g., Msg3 PUSCH frequency resource allocation,Msg3 PUSCH time resource allocation, and Modulation and Coding SchemeMCS for the transmission, which may be understood to translate to e.g.,an “Msg3 size”.

In some embodiments, the type of message may have: a) a fixed size SDU,and b) a one byte header comprising a first indicator of a type of themessage, and lacking a second indicator of a length of a payload in themessage.

The SDU may be a CCCH SDU, that is, a MAC SDU for CCCH.

In some examples, the fixed size may be, e.g., 6 bytes.

In some embodiments, the header may be a MAC subheader, and the firstindicator may be a value in an LCID field in the MAC subheader. In someparticular embodiments, the value may be “110110”. In other embodiments,this value may take a different value, which is referred to herein as afirst value in the second group of embodiments which will be describedbelow, or a second value, in a third group of embodiments which will bedescribed below, or as a “third value” in a first group of embodiments.

The second indicator may be a type of field, e.g., a first type offield, for example, the Length (L) field. The length field may beunderstood to be not necessary, as there may be only one MAC subPDU inthe MAC PDU. To save one byte, the format for fixed size MAC CE, shownlater in e.g., FIG. 10, may be used. This may be understood to reducethe size of the MAC subheader by one byte and make it possible to fitthe Msg3 transmission with a 7 byte grant.

In some examples, the subheader for a CCCH SDU with fixed size mayconsist of, the following fields:

-   -   LCID: The Logical Channel ID field with a fixed LCID value X in        the range 000000-111111, e.g. 000000, used to indicate CCCH        access with a fixed size SDU; and    -   R: Reserved bit, set to “0”. In some particular examples 2 R        fields may be comprised, as depicted in FIG. 7 a).

In other examples, LCID with a value set to 000000, may be used toindicate a CCCH access with a MAC SDU of a predetermined size, e.g. Z=6bytes. I

In yet other examples, a new LCID for the CCCH access with fixed sizeSDU may be allocated.

Signalling

The mapping of LCID to fixed size may be specified in the standard,according to embodiments herein in a new 3GGP TS 38.321, in table6.2.1-2, as shown below. At present, 000000, indicates a variable sizedCCCH payload.

TABLE 2 Index LCID values 000000 CCCH 000001-100000 Identity of thelogical channel 100001-110101 Reserved 110110 CCCH of Z bytes 110111Configured Grant Confirmation 111000 Multiple Entry PHR 111001 SingleEntry PHR 111010 C-RNTI 111011 Short Truncated BSR 111100 Long TruncatedBSR 111101 Short BSR 111110 Long BSR 111111 Padding

It may also be possible to send the mapping in NR System InformationBlock 1 (SIB1), which may be beneficial in case the sizes may needupdates.

In some embodiments, the type of message may be a first type of messageof a plurality of types of messages, wherein the plurality of types ofmessages may comprise a second type of message. Examples of the types ofmessages are described below for different groups of examples.

First Group of Examples

In some of the examples wherein the type of message may be the firsttype of message of the plurality of types of messages, and wherein theplurality of types of messages may comprise the second type of message,the first type of message may be understood to have: a) the fixed sizeSDU, and b) the one byte header comprising the first indicator of thetype of the message, and lack the second indicator of the length of thepayload. The second type of message may have a variable size SDU and thesecond indicator of the length of the payload.

In the first group of examples, the third value, as mentioned before,may be used. LCID 000000 may be used to indicate a CCCH access with aMAC SDU of a predetermined size, e.g. Z=6 bytes, and a new LCID, withthe third value, may be allocated for a CCCH access with a MAC SDU ofvariable size. The new LCID may need to be a fixed value in thepresently reserved range 100001-110110. For proprietary solutions, someLCID which may be allocated for another purpose may also be used, butwhich may be not likely to occur at a time of sending CCCH. FIG. 7illustrates the case, and will be described later.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a non-limiting preferredexample for a first type of message 701 comprising a fixed sized SDU702, panel a), and a second type of message 703 comprising a variablesized CCCH SDU, panel b), according to examples of embodiments herein.

In this example, the header 704 is a MAC subheader 705. In some examplesof this example, the subheader 704 for a CCCH SDU with fixed size mayconsist of the following fields:

-   -   LCID 706: The Logical Channel ID field with a fixed LCID value X        in the range 000000-111111, e.g. 000000, used to indicate CCCH        access with a fixed size SDU. In this example, the value in the        LCID field 706 is the first indicator 707.    -   R: Reserved bit, set to “0”. As depicted in panel a), there is a        first R field 708, and a second R field 709.

The actual MAC SDU for CCCH, in the depicted example is an RLC TM of 6bytes, which may be an ASN.1 encoded RRC Connection Request, or an RRCConnection Reestablishment Request, may occupy Octet (Oct) 2 to Oct 7.Three octets of CRC 710 may then be appended to the fixed size SDU,resulting in a total of 10 bytes, as indicated by the arrow to theright. The Transport Block (TB) size of the MAC PDU is indicated by thearrow on the left.

In some examples, as depicted in panel b), the subheader 711 for a CCCHSDU with variable size 712 may consist of the following fields:

-   -   LCID 713: The Logical Channel ID field with a fixed LCID value        Y< >X in the range 000000-111111, e.g. a value in the currently        reserved range 100001-110110, may be used to indicate CCCH        access with a variable size SDU.    -   F 714: The Format field may be set to “0” to indicate a 8 bits        L-field, and to “1” to indicate a 16 bits L-field; In this        example, the value in the F field 714 is the first indicator        715.    -   L 716: The Length field may be used in subheader with LCID=Y to        set the size of the CCCH SDU;    -   R 717: Reserved bit, set to “0”.

An alternative variant of this example, may be to use LCID 000000 forCCCH access with a variable sized SDU, and instead allocate a new LCIDfor the CCCH access with fixed size SDU, i.e. vice versa. Either way maybe plausible.

The actual MAC SDU for CCCH may start on Oct 3. Three octets of CRC 718may then be appended to the variable size SDU. The Transport Block (TB)size of the MAC PDU is indicated by the arrow on the left.

Second Group of Embodiments

In a second group of examples, the first indicator may be a first valuein a first field in the MAC subheader, wherein the MAC subheader mayfurther comprise an LCID field, the LCID field comprising a secondvalue. No graphical representation of this group of embodiments isprovided.

For example, in the second group of examples, the first indicator may bea second type of field, such as the Reserved (R) field. The first valuemay be, e.g., “0”. The LCDI field may be referred to e.g., as a thirdtype of field. The MAC subheader in the second group of examples may bereferred to as a first subheader.

The second value may be, e.g., an LCDI value of “000000”.

In the second group of examples, the reserved bit R as it occurs in theMAC PDU subheader for a CCCH SDU may be allocated and used to togglefixed small vs. variable larger sized SDU in the payload, or which isthe same, allocated and used to indicate presence of L-field in theheader. The reserved bit R may therefore comprise the first value. Onebenefit of this approach may be understood to be that it may use one andsame LCID value, that is, the second value, 000000 for all CCCHaccesses. If the bit is set to 1, the L-field may be understood to becontained. If bit is set to 0, the CCCH payload may be understood tohave a fixed size.

The fixed size may be determined in advance and specified to the numberof bytes that may be required to encapsulate any of CCCH messages forinitial access. As an example, 6 bytes to encapsulate either of a 46 bitmessage rrcConnectionRequest or a 43 bit messagerrcConnectionReestablishmentRequest.

Third Group of Embodiments

In a third group of examples, the fixed size may be associated with theMsg3 as such, rather than specifically with certain CCCH payloads. Asdiscussed above, Msg3 may be understood to be the first scheduledmessage that may be sent by the wireless device 130, e.g., a UE, and thefirst message that may be sent on PUSCH. The above examples may beconsidered to discriminate certain fixed CCCH sizes which may beunderstood to help to minimize the size of Msg3 and, as such, useful tomake its transfer as robust as possible. However, decreasing the sizethat may be needed to transfer CCCH may not help to provide thescheduler what data buffers and channel conditions may be at hand. Forthat purpose, additional content to the first scheduled message, thatis, additional Msg3 content, comprising Buffer Status Report (BSR) andPower HeadRoom (PHR) reports may be needed. As part of the problem withexisting methods, the BSR and PHR subPDUs may each require a subheader,that is, two or more extra header bytes may be required. FIG. 8 and FIG.9 show the format for two fixed size variants of BSR and PHRrespectively, the short/truncated BSR and the Single Entry PHR accordingto existing methods, which may be used in embodiments herein, asdescribed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram depicting a Short BSR and Short TruncatedBSR MAC CE, which may be understood as an example of a first MAC CE 800,FIG. 6.1.3.1-1 in TS 38.321-v15.0.0, 2018-01-04 which may be used inembodiments herein, as described.

The fields in the Short BSR MAC CE, the first MAC CE 800, as e.g.,depicted in FIG. 8, may be defined as follows:

-   -   LCG ID: The Logical Channel Group ID field may be understood to        identify the group of logical channel(s) whose buffer status is        being reported. The length of the field may be 3 bits; The LCG        ID field may be understood herein as an example of a second        field 801 indicating a group of one or more logical channels.    -   Buffer Size: The Buffer Size field may be understood to identify        the total amount of data that may be available across all        logical channels of a logical channel group after the MAC PDU        may have been built. The amount of data may be indicated in        number of bytes. The length of this field for the Short BSR        format and the Short Truncated BSR format may be 5 bits. The LCG        ID field may be understood herein as an example of a third field        802 comprising first information on a status of a buffer related        to the group of the one or more logical channels.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram depicting a Single Entry PHR MAC CE, FIG.6.1.3.8-1 in TS 38.321-v15.0.0, 2018-01-04 which may be used inembodiments herein, as described, which may be understood as an exampleof a second MAC CE 900.

The fields in the Single Entry PHR MAC CE, the second MAC CE 900, ase.g., depicted in FIG. 9, may be defined as follows in a first octet(Oct 1) 901:

-   -   R: reserved bit, set to “0” in a first R field 902, and also an        second R field 903;    -   Power Headroom (PH): this field indicates the power headroom        level. The length of the field is 6 bits. The PH field may be        understood as an example of a fourth field 904 comprising second        information on a power headroom.

Also depicted in FIG. 9 is a second octet (Oct 2) 905, comprising athird R filed 906, a fourth R field 907, and a PCMAX,c field 908 in thesecond octet 905.

FIG. 10 shows the subheader that may be used for the purpose ofincluding either of above, i.e. Short BSR or Single Entry PHR, in thefirst scheduled message, that is, the Msg3. The subheader may beunderstood as an example of a common subheader 1000, which will befurther described herein. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram depicting aR/LCID MAC subheader 1001, as an example of the common subheader 1000,FIG. 6.1.2-3 in TS 38.321-v15.0.0, 2018-01-04, which may be used inembodiments herein, as described. The LCID field 1002 in FIG. 10 maycomprise the fourth value. Also comprised in the R/LCID MAC subheader1001 are a first R field 1003, and a second R field 1004.

In the third group of examples, the first scheduled message, that is,the Msg3 may be minimized and may consist of the following:

-   -   subheader for fixed size Msg3;    -   CCCH message of Z bytes;    -   Short/truncated BSR MAC CE of 1 byte;    -   Single Entry PHR.

Or more generally, understanding that the CCCH message may be just aspecial case:

-   -   subheader for fixed size Msg3;    -   Identity message of Z bytes;    -   Short/truncated BSR MAC CE of 1 byte;    -   Single Entry PHR.

The first scheduled message, that is, the Msg3, may be encoded/decodedby MAC, according to 3GPP TS 38.321, and while the content of a CCCHmessage may require higher layer schemes, the bits and pieces of theCCCH payload may be used to discriminate the wireless device 130, e.g.,a UE, among other UEs that simultaneously may have used the samecontention based random access preamble.

FIG. 11 defines the identity message that may be required by the firstwireless device 130, e.g., a UE that may be already connected and mayhave received a C-RNTI to identify itself on UL-SCH, the UL sharedchannel. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram depicting a C-RNTI MAC CE 1100FIG. 6.1.3.2-1 in TS 38.321-v15.0.0, 2018-01-04, which may be used inembodiments herein, as described.

The field in the C-RNTI MAC CE 1100, as depicted in e.g., FIG. 11, maybe defined as follows:

-   -   C-RNTI 1101: This field may contain the C-RNTI of the MAC        entity. The length of the field may be 16 bits.

FIG. 12 illustrates non-limiting examples, in panels a) and b), of thethird group of examples just described, with MAC CEs for BSR and PHRplaced after the MAC SDUs. FIG. 12 shows a schematic diagram depicting anon-limiting example of a fixed Msg3 size for CCCH as an example of athird type of message 1200, in panel a), and a non-limiting example of aFixed Mag3 size for a connected user, panel b) as another example of thethird type of message 1200. In panel a), the R/LCID MAC subheader 1001as an example of the common subheader 1000, precedes a MAC SDU for CCCH1201 of 6 bytes as an example of a fixed size SDU 1201, and is followedby the first MAC CE 800, the second MAC CE 900, and three octets of CRC704. The message has a total size of 13 bytes, as indicated by the arrowon the right of the panel. In panel b), in the R/LCID MAC subheader1000, is followed by the C-RNTI MAC CE 1100, the Short BSR MAC CE 800,the Single Entry PHR MAC CE 900, and three octets of CRC 710. Themessage in this example has a total size of 9 bytes, as indicated by thearrow on the right of the panel.

According to the foregoing, in the third group of examples, wherein thetype of message may be the first type of message 701 of the plurality oftypes of messages, the plurality of types of messages may comprise thethird type of message 1200. The third type of message 1200 may be fixedin size, and may comprise one common subheader 1000 for: a) a fixed sizeSDU 1201 and at least one of: b) the first MAC control element 800 beingfixed in size, e.g., the Short BSR MAC CE, as e.g., depicted in FIG. 8,comprising: i) the second field 801, e.g., the Logical Channel Group IDfield, indicating a group of one or more logical channels, and ii) athird field 802, e.g., the Buffer Size field, comprising firstinformation on a status of a buffer related to the group of the one ormore logical channels; and c) a second MAC control element 900 fixed insize, e.g., the Single Entry PHR MAC CE, comprising a fourth field 904,e.g., the Power Headroom (PH), comprising second information on a powerheadroom.

The first information on the status of the buffer may be, e.g., a BSR.

The second information on the power headroom may be, e.g., a PHR.

In the third group of examples, the first indicator may be a fourthvalue in the LCID field 1002 in the MAC subheader 1001. The MACsubheader in the third group of examples may be referred to as a thirdsubheader.

Any of the first type of message 701, the second type of message 703,and the third type of message 1200 may be a Msg3 message.

According to the types messages described, how the size of the grant maydetermine the selection of type of message of the first scheduledmessage, that is, the Msg3 format, for a CCCH payload, is illustrated ina non-limiting example in Table 3.

Table 3 illustrates the number of bytes that may be left after 6 bytesCCCH SDU may be transmitted using different grant sizes. The followingcases may occur when transmitting an RRC/CCCH message of 6 bytes. Rows 2and 3 in the table illustrate that a 7 byte grant may be sufficient tosend a 6 byte CCCH according to embodiments herein, whereas according tolegacy methods, a grant of size 8 would be required. The rows below rows2 and 3 may be understood to use a 2 byte subheader with the L field.Number of bytes left indicated in the “Bytes left” column indicates howmany bytes of the grant may be unused after the 6 byte CCCH and its 2byte subheader may be included. For example, with a grant of 10 bytes, 2bytes are left after the 6 byte CCCH and its 2 byte header is included.These 2 bytes, the number of bytes left, are sufficient to also includean additional sub-PDU of fixed 1 byte length, e.g., a short BSR, e.g., 1byte, + fixed 1 byte subheader.

TABLE 3 Size of MAC Bytes Additional grant LCID subheader left MACsubPDU <7 bytes  N/A N/A N/A N/A 7 bytes [110110] R/LCID 0 No 8 bytes[000000] R/F/LCID/L 0 No 9 bytes [000000] R/F/LCID/L 1 Yes, but onlyPadding subPDU (1 byte is too small for BSR or PHR) 10 bytes  [000000]R/F/LCID/L 2 Yes, but at most one (1 byte each for header/payload) 10 +n bytes, [000000] R/F/LCID/L n + 2 n > 0

In some embodiments, wherein the wireless device 130 may be uplinksynchronized, or connected, with the network node 110, e.g., when thewireless device 130 may be waking up after for example being in inactivestate, the first type of message 701 may further comprise two fields1101 comprising an identifier of the wireless device 130 in the cell 120wherein the wireless device 130 may be being served by the network node110.

By selecting the type of message in this Action 601, the wireless device130 may be enabled to flexibly adapt the type of the first scheduledmessage to be sent to the network node (110) according to its needs,e.g., the size of the SDU it may need to transmit. In particular, byenabling the wireless device 130 to select the first type of message inthis Action 601, for example, the Msg3 size for initial access over NRmay be shrunk with a factor ⅛. Furthermore, coverage may be increased.Additionally, the wireless device 130 may indicate the use case, thatis, the message size, already at the transmission of Msg3.

Action 602

In this Action 602, the wireless device 130 provides the message to besent to the network node 110 operating in the wireless communicationsnetwork 100. The message is the first scheduled message to be sent tothe network node 110 in the random access procedure. The messagecomprises the first indicator 707 of the type of the message. The typeof message has: a) the fixed size SDU 702, and b) the one byte header704 comprising the first indicator 707 and lacking the second indicator713 of the length of the payload.

The providing may be understood herein as preparing, constructing, orpopulating.

The provided message in Action 602 may be based on the selected type ofmessage in Action 601. That is, the type of message indicated in theprovided message may be based on the selected message in Action 601.Accordingly, in other examples of the method, the wireless device 130may provide the first type of message 701, the second type of message703, or the third type of message 1200 in a same random accessprocedure.

By, in this Action 602, providing the message to be sent to the networknode 110 comprising the fixed size SDU, and the one byte header lackingthe second indicator of the length of the payload, the wireless device130 may be enabled to, as mentioned earlier, for example, the Msg3 sizefor initial access over NR may be shrunk with a factor ⅛. Furthermore,coverage may be increased. Additionally, the wireless device 130 mayindicate the use case already at the transmission of Msg3.

Action 603

In this Action 603, the wireless device 130 initiates sending theprovided message to the network node 110.

The initiating sending may be understood herein as triggering, starting,or enabling the sending or transmitting.

The sending may be performed via, e.g., the link 140.

Embodiments of method performed by the network node 110 will now bedescribed with reference to the flowchart depicted in FIG. 13. Themethod may be understood to be for processing the message from thewireless device 130 served by the network node 110. The network node 110operates in the communications network 100.

The method comprises the actions described below. One or moreembodiments may be combined, where applicable. All possible combinationsare not described to simplify the description. It should be noted thatthe examples herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from oneexample may be tacitly assumed to be present in another example and itwill be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components maybe used in the other examples. The detailed description of some of thefollowing corresponds to the same references provided above, in relationto the actions described for the wireless device 130, and will thus notbe repeated here. For example, the wireless communications network 100may operate on NR.

Action 1301

In this Action 1301, the network node 110 receives the message from thewireless device 130 operating in the wireless communications network100. The message is the first scheduled message received by the networknode 110 in the random access procedure. The message comprises the firstindicator 707 of the type of the message, the type of message having: a)the fixed size SDU 702 and b) the one byte header 704 comprising thefirst indicator 707 and lacking the second indicator 713 of the lengthof the payload.

The receiving may be performed via, e.g., the link 140.

In some embodiments, the header 704 may be the MAC subheader 705, andthe first indicator 707 may be the value in the LCID field 706 in theMAC subheader 705. In some particular embodiments, the value may be“110110”, that is, the third value in the first type of message may be“110110”.

In some embodiments, wherein the type of message is the first type ofmessage 701 of the plurality of types of messages, the plurality oftypes of messages comprising the second type of message 703, the secondtype of message 703 may have the variable size SDU 712 and the secondindicator 716 of the length of the payload.

In some embodiments, the first indicator may be a first value in thefirst field in a MAC subheader, the MAC subheader further comprising anLCID field, the LCID field comprising the second value. In otherembodiments, the first indicator may be the third value, that is,another value, in the LCID field in the MAC subheader.

In some embodiments, wherein the type of message is the first type ofmessage 701 of the plurality of types of messages, the plurality oftypes of messages may comprise the third type of message 1200. The thirdtype of message 1200 may be fixed in size, and comprise one commonsubheader 1000 for: a) a fixed size Service Data Unit, SDU, 1201 and atleast one of: b) the first MAC control element 800 being fixed in size,comprising: i) the second field 801 indicating the group of one or morelogical channels, and ii) the third field 802 comprising the firstinformation on the status of the buffer related to the group of the oneor more logical channels; and b) the second MAC control element 900fixed in size, comprising the fourth field 904 comprising secondinformation on the power headroom.

In some embodiments, the first indicator may be the fourth value in theLCID field 1002 in the MAC subheader 1001.

The type of message of the received message may be based on at least oneof: a) the size of the grant sent by the network node 110 to thewireless device 130 to transmit the message, b) the preamble receivedfrom the wireless device 130, and c) the grouping of the receivedpreamble.

In some embodiments, the wireless device 130 may be uplink synchronized,or connected, with the network node 110, and the first type of message701 may further comprise two fields 1101 comprising the identifier ofthe wireless device 130 in the cell 120 wherein the network node 110 maybe serving the wireless device 130.

Any of the first type of message 701, the second type of message 703,and the third type of message 1200 may be a Msg3 message.

The SDU may be a MAC SDU for CCCH, which may be also referred to hereinas a CCCH SDU.

Action 1302

In this Action 1302, the network node 110 initiates processing thereceived message, based on the first indicator 707.

The initiating processing may be understood herein as triggering,starting, or enabling the processing.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein may provide one or more of thefollowing technical advantage(s), which may be summarized as that theMsg3 size for initial access over NR is enabled to be shrunk with afactor ⅛. Furthermore, coverage is increased. Additionally, the wirelessdevice 130, e.g., a UE, may indicate the use case already at thetransmission of Msg3. In some examples, by the wireless device 130providing the message comprising the first indicator of the type of themessage, the wireless device 130 is enabled to select the type ofmessage that may suit its needs, without wasting resources. This isbecause the wireless device 130 may choose among the plurality of typesof message, which comprises the first type of message, and the secondtype of message, and when suitable, use a fixed size SDU. Therefore, thewireless device 130 is enabled to flexibly provide the first type ofmessage with a size shrunk by a factor of ⅛, and still be enabled to useother types of messages of other sizes, when needed. The first indicatorin the message enables the network node 110 to be aware of the type ofmessage received from the wireless device 130, and initiate processingit accordingly. Therefore, flexibility is conferred to the wirelessdevice 130 during random access, and the possibility of saving resourcesis enabled, increasing the capacity of the wireless communicationsnetwork, reducing latency, and increasing coverage.

FIG. 14 depicts two different examples in panels a) and b),respectively, of the arrangement that the wireless device 130 maycomprise to perform the method actions described above in relation toFIG. 6. The wireless device 130 is configured to operate in the wirelesscommunications network 100

The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to thesame references provided above, in relation to the actions described forthe wireless device 130, and will thus not be repeated here. Forexample, the wireless communications network 100 may be configured tooperate on NR. In FIG. 14, optional units are indicated with dashedboxes.

In some embodiments, the wireless device 130 may comprise the followingarrangement depicted in FIG. 14 a.

The wireless device 130 is configured to perform the providing of Action602, e.g., by means of a providing unit 1401 within the wireless device130, configured to provide the message to be sent to the network node110 configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100.The message is the first scheduled message to be sent to the networknode 110 in the random access procedure. The message comprises the firstindicator 707 of the type of the message. The type of message has: a)the fixed size SDU 702 and b) the one byte header 704 comprising thefirst indicator 707 and lacking the second indicator 713 of the lengthof the payload. The providing unit 1401 may be a processor 1405 of thewireless device 130, or an application running on such processor.

In some embodiments, the header 704 may be the MAC subheader 705, andthe first indicator 707 may be a value in an LCID field 706 in the MACsubheader 705.

In some embodiments, the value may be “110110”.

The type of message may be the first type of message 701 of theplurality of types of messages. The plurality of types of messages maycomprise the second type of message 703, the second type of message 703having the variable size SDU 712 and the second indicator 716 of thelength of the payload.

In some embodiments, the first indicator may be the first value in thefirst field in the MAC subheader, the MAC subheader further comprisingan LCID field, the LCID field comprising the second value.

In some embodiments, the type of message may be the first type ofmessage 701 of the plurality of types of messages, the plurality oftypes of messages comprising the third type of message 1200. The thirdtype of message 1200 may be fixed in size, and comprise one commonsubheader 1000 for: a) the fixed size SDU 1201 and at least one of: b)the first MAC control element 800 being fixed in size, comprising: i)the second field 801 indicating the group of one or more logicalchannels, and ii) the third field 802 comprising the first informationon the status of the buffer related to the group of the one or morelogical channels; and c) the second MAC control element 900 fixed insize, comprising the fourth field 904 comprising the second informationon the power headroom.

In some embodiments, the first indicator may be the fourth value in theLCID field 1002 in the MAC subheader 1001.

In some embodiments, wherein the wireless device 130 may be configuredto be uplink synchronized, or connected, with the network node 110, thefirst type of message 701 may further comprise the two fields comprisingthe identifier of the wireless device 130 in the cell 120 wherein thewireless device 130 may be configured to be being served by the networknode 110.

Any of the first type of message 701, the second type of message 703,and the third type of message 1200 may be a Msg3 message.

The SDU may be a MAC SDU for CCCH.

The wireless device 130 may be configured to perform the initiatingsending of Action 603, e.g., by means of an initiating sending unit 1402within the wireless device 130, configured to initiate sending theprovided message to the network node 110. The initiating sending unit1402 may be the processor 1405 of the wireless device 130, or anapplication running on such processor.

The wireless device 130 may be further configured to perform theselecting of Action 601, e.g., by means of a selecting unit 1403 withinthe wireless device 130, configured to select, the type of the messageto be sent to the network node 110. To select the type of message may bebased on at least one of: a) the size of the grant received from thenetwork node 110 to transmit the message, b) the preamble sent by thewireless device 130, and c) the grouping of the sent preamble. Theselecting unit 1403 may be the processor 1405 of the wireless device130, or an application running on such processor.

Other units 1404 may be comprised in the wireless device 130.

The embodiments herein in the wireless device 130 may be implementedthrough one or more processors, such as a processor 1405 in the wirelessdevice 130 depicted in FIG. 14a , together with computer program codefor performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. Aprocessor, as used herein, may be understood to be a hardware component.The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computerprogram product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carryingcomputer program code for performing the embodiments herein when beingloaded into the wireless device 130. One such carrier may be in the formof a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers suchas a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be providedas pure program code on a server and downloaded to the wireless device130.

The wireless device 130 may further comprise a memory 1406 comprisingone or more memory units. The memory 1406 is arranged to be used tostore obtained information, store data, configurations, schedulings, andapplications etc. to perform the methods herein when being executed inthe wireless device 130.

In some embodiments, the wireless device 130 may receive informationfrom, e.g., the network node 110, through a receiving port 1407. In someembodiments, the receiving port 1407 may be, for example, connected toone or more antennas in wireless device 130. In other embodiments, thewireless device 130 may receive information from another structure inthe wireless communications network 100 through the receiving port 1407.Since the receiving port 1407 may be in communication with the processor1405, the receiving port 1407 may then send the received information tothe processor 1405. The receiving port 1407 may also be configured toreceive other information.

The processor 1405 in the wireless device 130 may be further configuredto transmit or send information to e.g., the network node 110, anotherstructure in the wireless communications network 100, through a sendingport 1408, which may be in communication with the processor 1405, andthe memory 1406.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the providing unit1401, the initiating sending unit 1402, the selecting unit 1403 and theother units 1404 described above may refer to a combination of analogand digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured withsoftware and/or firmware, e.g., stored in memory, that, when executed bythe one or more processors such as the processor 1405, perform asdescribed above. One or more of these processors, as well as the otherdigital hardware, may be included in a single Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), or several processors and various digitalhardware may be distributed among several separate components, whetherindividually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

Also, in some embodiments, the different circuits 1401-1404 describedabove may be implemented as one or more applications running on one ormore processors such as the processor 1405.

Thus, the methods according to the embodiments described herein for thewireless device 130 may be respectively implemented by means of acomputer program 1409 product, comprising instructions, i.e., softwarecode portions, which, when executed on at least one processor 1405,cause the at least one processor 1405 to carry out the actions describedherein, as performed by the wireless device 130. The computer program1409 product may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1410.The computer-readable storage medium 1410, having stored thereon thecomputer program 1409, may comprise instructions which, when executed onat least one processor 1405, cause the at least one processor 1405 tocarry out the actions described herein, as performed by the wirelessdevice 130. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium1410 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as aCD ROM disc, or a memory stick. In other embodiments, the computerprogram 1409 product may be stored on a carrier containing the computerprogram 1409 just described, wherein the carrier is one of an electronicsignal, optical signal, radio signal, or the computer-readable storagemedium 1410, as described above.

The wireless device 130 may comprise a communication interfaceconfigured to facilitate communications between the wireless device 130and other nodes or devices, e.g., the network node 110. The interfacemay, for example, include a transceiver configured to transmit andreceive radio signals over an air interface in accordance with asuitable standard.

In other embodiments, the wireless device 130 may comprise the followingarrangement depicted in FIG. 14b . The wireless device 130 may comprisea processing circuitry 1405, e.g., one or more processors such as theprocessor 1405, in the wireless device 130 and the memory 1406. Thewireless device 130 may also comprise a radio circuitry 1411, which maycomprise e.g., the receiving port 1407 and the sending port 1408. Theprocessing circuitry 1405 may be configured to, or operable to, performthe method actions according to FIG. 6, and/or FIGS. 17-21, in a similarmanner as that described in relation to FIG. 14a . The radio circuitry1411 may be configured to set up and maintain at least a wirelessconnection with the wireless device 130. Circuitry may be understoodherein as a hardware component.

Hence, embodiments herein also relate to the wireless device 130operative to operate in the wireless communications network 100. Thewireless device 130 may comprise the processing circuitry 1405 and thememory 1406, said memory 1406 containing instructions executable by saidprocessing circuitry 1405, whereby the wireless device 130 is furtheroperative to perform the actions described herein in relation to thewireless device 130, e.g., in FIG. 6, and/or FIGS. 17-21.

In some embodiments, wireless device 130 is further operative to providethe message to be sent to a network node 110 comprised in the wirelesscommunications network 100. The message is the first scheduled messageto be sent to the network node 110 in the random access procedure. Themessage comprises the first indicator 707 of the type of the message.The type of message has: a) the fixed size SDU 702 and b) the one byteheader 704 comprising the first indicator 707 and lacking the secondindicator 713 of the length of the payload. The wireless device 130 isalso operative to initiate sending the provided message to the networknode 110.

FIG. 15 depicts two different examples in panels a) and b),respectively, of the arrangement that the network node 110 may compriseto perform the method actions described above in relation to FIG. 13. Insome embodiments, the network node 110 may comprise the followingarrangement depicted in FIG. 15a . The network node 110 is configured tooperate in the communications network 100.

The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to thesame references provided above, in relation to the actions described forthe wireless device 130, and will thus not be repeated here. Forexample, the wireless communications network 100 may be configured tooperate on NR. In FIG. 15, optional units are indicated with dashedboxes.

The network node 110 may be configured to perform the receiving ofAction 701, e.g., by means of a receiving unit 1501 within the networknode 110, configured to receive the message from the wireless device 130configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100. Themessage is the first scheduled message received by the network node 110in the random access procedure. The message comprises the firstindicator 707 of the type of the message. The type of message has: a)the fixed size SDU 702 and b) the one byte header 704 comprising thefirst indicator 707 and lacking the second indicator 713 of the lengthof the payload. The receiving unit 1501 may be a processor 1504 of thenetwork node 110, or an application running on such processor.

The network node 110 may be configured to perform the initiatingprocessing of Action 702, e.g., by means of an initiating processingunit 1502 within the network node 110, configured to initiate processingthe received message, based on the first indicator 707. The initiatingprocessing unit 1502 may be the processor 1504 of the network node 110,or an application running on such processor.

Other units 1503 may be comprised in the network node 110.

In some embodiments, the header 704 may be the MAC subheader 705, andthe first indicator 707 may be a value in a LCID field in the MACsubheader 705.

The value may be “110110”.

In some embodiments, the type of message may be the first type ofmessage 701 of the plurality of types of messages. The plurality oftypes of messages may comprise the second type of message 703. Thesecond type of message 703 may have the variable size SDU 712 and thesecond indicator 716 of the length of the payload.

In some embodiments, the first indicator may be the first value in thefirst field in the MAC subheader, the MAC subheader further comprisingthe LCID field, the LCID field comprising the second value.

In some embodiments, wherein the type of message may be the first typeof message 701 of the plurality of types of messages, the plurality oftypes of messages may comprise the third type of message 1200. The thirdtype of message 1200 may be fixed in size, and comprise one commonsubheader 1000 for: a) the fixed size SDU 1201 and at least one of: b)the first MAC control element 800 being fixed in size, comprising: i)the second field 801 indicating the group of one or more logicalchannels, and ii) the third field 802 comprising the first informationon the status of the buffer related to the group of the one or morelogical channels; and c) the second MAC control element 900 fixed insize, comprising the fourth field comprising the second information onthe power headroom.

In some embodiments, the first indicator may be the fourth value in aLCID field 1002 in a MAC subheader 1001.

The type of message of the received message may be based on at least oneof: a) the size of the grant sent by the network node 110 to thewireless device 130 to transmit the message, b) the preamble receivedfrom the wireless device 130, and c) the grouping of the receivedpreamble.

In some embodiments, wherein the wireless device 130 may be configuredto be uplink synchronized, or connected, with the network node 110, thefirst type of message 701 may further comprise two fields comprising theidentifier of the wireless device 130 in the cell 120 wherein thenetwork node 110 may be configured to be serving the wireless device130.

Any of the first type of message 701, the second type of message 703,and the third type of message 1200 may be a Msg3 message.

The SDU may be a MAC SDU for CCCH.

The embodiments herein in the network node 110 may be implementedthrough one or more processors, such as a processor 1504 in the networknode 110 depicted in FIG. 15a , together with computer program code forperforming the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. Aprocessor, as used herein, may be understood to be a hardware component.The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computerprogram product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carryingcomputer program code for performing the embodiments herein when beingloaded into the network node 110. One such carrier may be in the form ofa CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as amemory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided aspure program code on a server and downloaded to the network node 110.

The network node 110 may further comprise a memory 1505 comprising oneor more memory units. The memory 1505 is arranged to be used to storeobtained information, store data, configurations, schedulings, andapplications etc. to perform the methods herein when being executed inthe network node 110.

In some embodiments, the network node 110 may receive information from,e.g., the wireless device 130, through a receiving port 1506. In someembodiments, the receiving port 1506 may be, for example, connected toone or more antennas in network node 110. In other embodiments, thenetwork node 110 may receive information from another structure in thewireless communications network 100 through the receiving port 1506.Since the receiving port 1506 may be in communication with the processor1504, the receiving port 1506 may then send the received information tothe processor 1504. The receiving port 1506 may also be configured toreceive other information.

The processor 1504 in the network node 110 may be further configured totransmit or send information to e.g., the wireless device 130, anotherstructure in the wireless communications network 100, through a sendingport 1507, which may be in communication with the processor 1504, andthe memory 1505.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the receiving unit1501, the initiating processing unit 1502, and the other units 1503described above may refer to a combination of analog and digitalcircuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/orfirmware, e.g., stored in memory, that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors such as the processor 1504, perform as described above. Oneor more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, maybe included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributedamong several separate components, whether individually packaged orassembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

Also, in some embodiments, the different units 1501-1503 described abovemay be implemented as one or more applications running on one or moreprocessors such as the processor 1504.

Thus, the methods according to the embodiments described herein for thenetwork node 110 may be respectively implemented by means of a computerprogram 1508 product, comprising instructions, i.e., software codeportions, which, when executed on at least one processor 1504, cause theat least one processor 1504 to carry out the actions described herein,as performed by the network node 110. The computer program 1508 productmay be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1509. Thecomputer-readable storage medium 1509, having stored thereon thecomputer program 1508, may comprise instructions which, when executed onat least one processor 1504, cause the at least one processor 1504 tocarry out the actions described herein, as performed by the network node110. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium 1509 maybe a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a CD ROMdisc, or a memory stick. In other embodiments, the computer program 1508product may be stored on a carrier containing the computer program 1508just described, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal,optical signal, radio signal, or the computer-readable storage medium1509, as described above.

The network node 110 may comprise a communication interface configuredto facilitate communications between the network node 110 and othernodes or devices, e.g., the wireless device 130. The interface may, forexample, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radiosignals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard.

In other embodiments, the network node 110 may comprise the followingarrangement depicted in FIG. 15b . The network node 110 may comprise aprocessing circuitry 1504, e.g., one or more processors such as theprocessor 1504, in the network node 110 and the memory 1505. The networknode 110 may also comprise a radio circuitry 1510, which may comprisee.g., the receiving port 1506 and the sending port 1507. The processingcircuitry 1504 may be configured to, or operable to, perform the methodactions according to FIG. 7, and/or FIGS. 17-21, in a similar manner asthat described in relation to FIG. 15a . The radio circuitry 1510 may beconfigured to set up and maintain at least a wireless connection withthe network node 110. Circuitry may be understood herein as a hardwarecomponent.

Hence, embodiments herein also relate to the network node 110 operativeto operate in the wireless communications network 100. The network node110 may comprise the processing circuitry 1504 and the memory 1505, saidmemory 1505 containing instructions executable by said processingcircuitry 1504, whereby the network node 110 is further operative toperform the actions described herein in relation to the network node110, e.g., in FIG. 13, and/or FIGS. 17-21.

In some embodiments, the network node 110 is further operative toreceive the message from the wireless device 130 comprised in thewireless communications network 100. The message is the first scheduledmessage received by the network node 110 in the random access procedure.The message comprises the first indicator 707 of the type of themessage. The type of message has: a) the fixed size SDU 702 and b) theone byte header 704 comprising the first indicator 707 and lacking thesecond indicator 713 of the length of the payload. The network node 110is also operative to initiate processing the received message, based onthe first indicator 707.

Further Examples Related to Embodiments Herein

A first aspect of examples related to embodiments herein relates to amethod, performed by the wireless device 130 and is described herein.The method may be understood to be for providing a message to be sent tothe network node 110 serving the wireless device 130. The wirelessdevice 130 and the network node 110 operate in the wirelesscommunications network 100. The method may comprise the followingactions:

-   -   Providing 602 a message to be sent to the network node 110, the        message being a first scheduled message to be sent to the        network node 110 in a random access procedure, the message        comprising a first indicator of a type of the message of a        plurality of types of messages, the plurality of types of        messages comprising:

i. a first type of message, the first type of message having a fixedsize Service Data Unit (SDU), and a one byte header lacking a secondindicator of the length of the payload, and

ii. a second type of message, the second type of message having avariable size SDU and the second indicator of the length of the payload.

-   -   Initiating sending 603 the provided message to the network node        110.

A second aspect of examples related to embodiments herein relates to amethod, performed by the network node 110 is described herein. Themethod may be understood to be for processing the message from thewireless device 130 served by the network node 110. The wireless device130 and the network node 110 may operate in the wireless communicationsnetwork 100. The method may comprise the following actions:

-   -   Receiving 1301 the message from the wireless device 130, the        message being the first scheduled message received by the        network node 110 in the random access procedure. The message        comprises the first indicator of the type of the message of the        plurality of types of messages. The plurality of types of        messages comprises:

i. the first type of message, the first type of message having the fixedsize Service Data Unit, SDU, and the one byte header lacking the secondindicator of the length of the payload, and

ii. the second type of message, the second type of message having thevariable size SDU and the second indicator of the length of the payload.

-   -   Initiating processing 702 the received message, based on the        first indicator.

Particular Examples Related to Embodiments Herein

1. A method, performed by a wireless device (130), for providing amessage to be sent to a network node (110) serving the wireless device(130), the wireless device (130) and the network node (110) operating ina wireless communications network (100), the method comprising:

-   -   providing (602) a message to be sent to the network node (110),        the message being a first scheduled message to be sent to the        network node (110) in a random access procedure, the message        comprising a first indicator of a type of the message of a        plurality of types of messages, the plurality of types of        messages comprising:        -   a) a first type of message, the first type of message having            a fixed size Service Data Unit, SDU, and a one byte header            lacking a second indicator of the length of the payload, and        -   b) a second type of message, the second type of message            having a variable size SDU and the second indicator of the            length of the payload, and    -   initiating sending (603) the provided message to the network        node (110).

2. The method according to example 1, wherein the first indicator is afirst value in a first field in a Medium Access Control, MAC, subheader,the MAC subheader further comprising a Logical Channel Identity, LCID,field, the LCID field comprising a second value.

3. The method according to example 1, wherein the first indicator is athird value in a LCID field in a MAC subheader.

4. The method according to example 3, wherein the third value in thefirst type of message is “110110”.

5. The method according to example 1, wherein the plurality of types ofmessages comprises a third type of message, the third type of messagebeing fixed in size, and comprising one common subheader for:

-   -   a. a fixed size Service Data Unit, SDU, and at least one of:    -   b. a first MAC control element being fixed in size, comprising:        -   i. a second field indicating a group of one or more logical            channels, and        -   ii. a third field comprising first information on a status            of a buffer related to the group of the one or more logical            channels; and    -   c. a second MAC control element fixed in size, comprising a        fourth field comprising second information on a power headroom.

6. The method according to example 5, wherein the first indicator is afourth value in a LCID field in a MAC subheader.

7. The method according to any of examples 1-6, further comprising:

-   -   selecting (601), the type of the message to be sent to the        network node (110), the selecting (601) the type of message        being based on at least one of: a size of a grant received from        the network node (110) to transmit the message, b) a preamble        sent by the wireless device (130), and c) a grouping of the sent        preamble.

8. The method according to any of examples 1-7, wherein the wirelessdevice (130) is uplink synchronized, or connected, with the network node(110), and wherein the first type of message further comprises twofields comprising an identifier of the wireless device (130) in a cell(120) wherein the wireless device (130) is being served by the networknode (110).

9. The method according to any of examples 1-8, wherein any of the firsttype of message, the second type of message, and the third type ofmessage is a Msg3 message.

10. The method according to any of examples 1-9, wherein the wirelesscommunications network (100) operates on New Radio, NR.

11. A method, performed by a network node (110), for processing amessage from a wireless device (130) served by the network node (110),the wireless device (130) and the network node (110) operating in awireless communications network (100), the method comprising:

-   -   receiving (701) a message from the wireless device (130), the        message being a first scheduled message received by the network        node (110) in a random access procedure, the message comprising        a first indicator of a type of the message of a plurality of        types of messages, the plurality of types of messages        comprising:        -   a) a first type of message, the first type of message having            a fixed size Service Data Unit, SDU, and a one byte header            lacking a second indicator of the length of the payload, and        -   b) a second type of message, the second type of message            having a variable size SDU and the second indicator of the            length of the payload, and    -   initiating processing (702) the received message, based on the        first indicator.

12. The method according to example 11, wherein the first indicator is afirst value in a first field in a Medium Access Control, MAC, subheader,the MAC subheader further comprising a Logical Channel Identity, LCID,field, the LCID field comprising a second value.

13. The method according to example 12, wherein the first indicator is athird value in a LCID field in a MAC subheader.

14. The method according to example 13, wherein the third value in thefirst type of message is “110110”.

15. The method according to example 11, wherein the plurality of typesof messages comprises a third type of message, the third type of messagebeing fixed in size, and comprising one common subheader for:

-   -   a. a fixed size Service Data Unit, SDU, and at least one of:    -   b. a first MAC control element being fixed in size, comprising:        -   i. a second field indicating a group of one or more logical            channels, and        -   ii. a third field comprising first information on a status            of a buffer related to the group of the one or more logical            channels; and    -   c. a second MAC control element fixed in size, comprising a        fourth field comprising second information on a power headroom.

16. The method according to example 15, wherein the first indicator is afourth value in a LCID field in a MAC subheader.

17. The method according to any of examples 11-16, wherein the type ofmessage of the received message is based on at least one of: a size of agrant sent by the network node (110) to the wireless device (130) totransmit the message, b) a preamble received from the wireless device(130), and c) a grouping of the received preamble.

18. The method according to any of examples 11-17, wherein the wirelessdevice (130) is uplink synchronized, or connected, with the network node(110), and wherein the first type of message further comprises twofields comprising an identifier of the wireless device (130) in a cell(120) wherein the network node (110) is serving the wireless device(130).

19. The method according to any of examples 11-18, wherein any of thefirst type of message, the second type of message, and the third type ofmessage is a Msg3 message.

20. The method according to any of examples 11-19, wherein the wirelesscommunications network (100) operates on New Radio, NR.

Further Discussion on Some Aspects Herein

Some aspects of embodiments herein may be understood to relate to thesize of Msg3 in NR when it may be used to carry CCCH payload and thecorresponding grant size that may be needed to handle the Msg3transmission. A more detailed discussion of the message content invarious cases is found in R2-1801162, Size of MSG3 in NR, Ericsson, 3GPPTSG-RAN #NR AH1801, Jan. 22-26, 2018.

The size of the transport block may be understood to be limited by thenumber of bits that may be reliably delivered to a UE at the cell edge.It may therefore be desirable to be able to use as small message size aspossible. For LTE, the minimum grant size is 56 bits.

As described in Ericsson, 3GPP TSG-RAN #NR AH1801, Jan. 22-26, 2018, thesize of the RRC messages may be given by

1. RRC Connection Request: 46 bits

2. RRC Resume Request: 81 bits

3. RRC Connection re-establishment request 43 bits

It may be noted that the above values are indicative and not decidedyet. In addition to this, a MAC subheader of 2 bytes (R/F/LCID/L) may beadded to the Msg3 size. The size of the grants may be understood to beoctet aligned, which may result in that the minimum size of the grantfor Msg3 may be 8 bytes, for RRC Connection Request, 13 bytes for RRCResume Request and 8 bytes for RRC Connection re-establishment request.

According to the foregoing, a grant of 8 bytes may be the minimum fortransmission of RRC Connection Request or RRC Connectionre-establishment request. Also, a grant of 13 bytes may be the minimumfor transmission of RRC Resume Request.

Using the minimum size grant may be understood to be useful in caseswhere there may be no extra MAC CEs needed for better performance. Forexample, BSR and PHR may be useful in case of RRC Resume Request, butless useful in case of the RRC Connection Request or the RRC Connectionre-establishment request. One way to handle grant assignment may be touse a minimum grant for CBRA using preamble group A, i.e., setting thera-Msg3SizeGroupA to the minimum grant size. If a UE wishes to transmita Msg3 larger than the minimum grant size, it may need to use preamblegroup B which may be understood to use a larger grant. Preamble group Bmay then handle cases requiring a larger grant such as RRC ResumeRequest. Using Preamble group B may also be understood to require thatthe pathloss is low enough or that it is the LTE parametermessagePowerOffsetGroupB is used also in NR and may be configured tohandle the larger Msg3 sizes irrespective of pathloss. An alternativesolution may be to allow selection of preamble group B ignoring thepathloss for CCCH transmissions as in LTE and suggested in R2-1800965,Clarification on the Preamble group B selection, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO,Nokia Shanghai, 3GPP TSG-RAN #NR AH1801, Jan. 22-26, 2018. Selection ofpreamble group B may be allowed in some examples, ignoring the pathlossrequirement for CCCH transmissions.

The MAC subheader used for the RRC Connection Request and RRC Connectionre-establishment request may use the two bytes format according to thecurrent specification. This header format as shown in FIG. 10.

This may be understood to reduce the size of the MAC subheader by onebyte and make it possible to fit the Msg3 transmission with a 7 bytegrant.

According to the foregoing, if a fixed format for the MAC header isused, a grant of 7 bytes may be sufficient for transmission of RRCConnection Request or RRC Connection re-establishment request.

The saving of one byte would be very beneficial for Msg3 transmissionsand, therefore, the R/LCID MAC subheader may be used for Msg3transmission of RRC Connection Request and RRC Connectionre-establishment request.

Using the R/LCID MAC Subheader for RRC Connection Request or RRCConnection Re-Establishment Request

In the current version of 38.321, transmission of RRC Connection Requestor RRC Connection re-establishment request may be done by encapsulatingthe CCCH SDU with a R/F/LCID/L MAC subheader with 8-bit L field. In thiscase, R=0, F=0 to indicate 8 bit length field, LCID=000000 to indicateCCCH, and L is the length of the CCCH SDU.

Using the method of using R/LCID MAC subheader for Msg3, indication ofthe CCCH SDU for RRC Connection Request or RRC Connectionre-establishment request may instead be indicated with R/LCID MACsubheader. One way to do this may be to select one of the reserved LCIDvalues to indicate a CCCH SDU of a fixed size. For example, LCID=110110may refer to a CCCH SDU of 6 bytes. In this way, the RRC ConnectionRequest or RRC Connection re-establishment request may be transmittedusing a grant of 7 bytes.

According to the foregoing, the reserved LCID value 110110 may be usedto indicate a CCCH SDU of 6 bytes.

With such a method, the following situation when transmitting an RRCmessage of 6 bytes may occur:

TABLE 4 Number of bytes left after 6 bytes CCCH SDU transmitted usingdifferent grant sizes. Bytes left MAC after subheader CCCH SDUAdditional Size of for and its MAC grant CCCH SDU subheader subPDUComment <7 bytes  N/A N/A N/A Too small grant 7 bytes R/R/LCID 0 NoSmallest size, new reserved LCID 8 bytes R/F/LCID/L 0 No Works withlegacy LCID = 000000 9 bytes R/F/LCID/L 1 Yes, but only Padding ispadding since included as a 1 byte is too result of small for BSRmultiplexing. or PHR. LCID = 000000 9 + n R/F/LCID/L n + 1 Ordinary LCID= 000000 bytes, multiplexing n > 0

Further Extensions And Variations

FIG. 16: Telecommunication Network Connected Via an Intermediate Networkto a Host Computer in Accordance With Some Embodiments

With reference to FIG. 16, in accordance with an embodiment, acommunication system includes telecommunication network 1610 such as thewireless communications network 100, for example, a 3GPP-type cellularnetwork, which comprises access network 1611, such as a radio accessnetwork, and core network 1614. Access network 1611 comprises aplurality of network nodes such as the network node 110. For example,base stations 1612 a, 1612 b, 1612 c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or othertypes of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coveragearea 1613 a, 1613 b, 1613 c. Each base station 1612 a, 1612 b, 1612 c isconnectable to core network 1614 over a wired or wireless connection1615. In FIG. 16, a first UE 1691 located in coverage area 1613 c isconfigured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the correspondingbase station 1612 c. A second UE 1692 in coverage area 1613 a iswirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 1612 a. While aplurality of UEs 1691, 1692 are illustrated in this example, thedisclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a soleUE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to thecorresponding base station 1612. Any of the UEs 1691, 1692 may beconsidered examples of the wireless device 130.

Telecommunication network 1610 is itself connected to host computer1630, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of astandalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server oras processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 1630 may beunder the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operatedby the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.Connections 1621 and 1622 between telecommunication network 1610 andhost computer 1630 may extend directly from core network 1614 to hostcomputer 1630 or may go via an optional intermediate network 1620.Intermediate network 1620 may be one of, or a combination of more thanone of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 1620,if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular,intermediate network 1620 may comprise two or more sub-networks (notshown).

The communication system of FIG. 16 as a whole enables connectivitybetween the connected UEs 1691, 1692 and host computer 1630. Theconnectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1650.Host computer 1630 and the connected UEs 1691, 1692 are configured tocommunicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 1650, using accessnetwork 1611, core network 1614, any intermediate network 1620 andpossible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTTconnection 1650 may be transparent in the sense that the participatingcommunication devices through which OTT connection 1650 passes areunaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example,base station 1612 may not or need not be informed about the past routingof an incoming downlink communication with data originating from hostcomputer 1630 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE1691. Similarly, base station 1612 need not be aware of the futurerouting of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 1691towards the host computer 1630.

In relation to FIGS. 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21, which are described next,it may be understood that a UE is an example of the wireless device 130,and that any description provided for the UE equally applies to thewireless device 130. It may be also understood that the base station maybe considered an example of the network node 110, and that anydescription provided for the base station equally applies to the networknode 110.

FIG. 17: Host Computer Communicating Via a Base Station with a UserEquipment Over a Partially Wireless Connection in Accordance with SomeEmbodiments

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of thewireless device 130, e.g., a UE, and the network node 110, e.g., a basestation and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will nowbe described with reference to FIG. 17. In communication system 1700,such as the wireless communications network 100, host computer 1710comprises hardware 1715 including communication interface 1716configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with aninterface of a different communication device of communication system1700. Host computer 1710 further comprises processing circuitry 1718,which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular,processing circuitry 1718 may comprise one or more programmableprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmablegate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to executeinstructions. Host computer 1710 further comprises software 1711, whichis stored in or accessible by host computer 1710 and executable byprocessing circuitry 1718. Software 1711 includes host application 1712.Host application 1712 may be operable to provide a service to a remoteuser, such as UE 1730 connecting via OTT connection 1750 terminating atUE 1730 and host computer 1710. In providing the service to the remoteuser, host application 1712 may provide user data which is transmittedusing OTT connection 1750.

Communication system 1700 further includes the network node 110,exemplified in FIG. 17 as a base station 1720 provided in atelecommunication system and comprising hardware 1725 enabling it tocommunicate with host computer 1710 and with UE 1730. Hardware 1725 mayinclude communication interface 1726 for setting up and maintaining awired or wireless connection with an interface of a differentcommunication device of communication system 1700, as well as radiointerface 1727 for setting up and maintaining at least wirelessconnection 1770 with the wireless device 130, exemplified in FIG. 17 asa UE 1730 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 17) served bybase station 1720. Communication interface 1726 may be configured tofacilitate connection 1760 to host computer 1710. Connection 1760 may bedirect or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 17) ofthe telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediatenetworks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown,hardware 1725 of base station 1720 further includes processing circuitry1728, which may comprise one or more programmable processors,application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arraysor combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.Base station 1720 further has software 1721 stored internally oraccessible via an external connection.

Communication system 1700 further includes UE 1730 already referred to.Its hardware 1735 may include radio interface 1737 configured to set upand maintain wireless connection 1770 with a base station serving acoverage area in which UE 1730 is currently located. Hardware 1735 of UE1730 further includes processing circuitry 1738, which may comprise oneor more programmable processors, application-specific integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (notshown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 1730 further comprisessoftware 1731, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1730 andexecutable by processing circuitry 1738. Software 1731 includes clientapplication 1732. Client application 1732 may be operable to provide aservice to a human or non-human user via UE 1730, with the support ofhost computer 1710. In host computer 1710, an executing host application1712 may communicate with the executing client application 1732 via OTTconnection 1750 terminating at UE 1730 and host computer 1710. Inproviding the service to the user, client application 1732 may receiverequest data from host application 1712 and provide user data inresponse to the request data. OTT connection 1750 may transfer both therequest data and the user data. Client application 1732 may interactwith the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 1710, base station 1720 and UE 1730illustrated in FIG. 17 may be similar or identical to host computer1630, one of base stations 1612 a, 1612 b, 1612 c and one of UEs 1691,1692 of FIG. 16, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings ofthese entities may be as shown in FIG. 17 and independently, thesurrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 16.

In FIG. 17, OTT connection 1750 has been drawn abstractly to illustratethe communication between host computer 1710 and UE 1730 via basestation 1720, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices andthe precise routing of messages via these devices. Networkinfrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured tohide from UE 1730 or from the service provider operating host computer1710, or both. While OTT connection 1750 is active, the networkinfrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamicallychanges the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing considerationor reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 1770 between UE 1730 and base station 1720 is inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve theperformance of OTT services provided to UE 1730 using OTT connection1750, in which wireless connection 1770 forms the last segment. Moreprecisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the spectrumefficiency, coverage, and latency, and thereby provide benefits such asreduced user waiting time, better responsiveness and extended batterylifetime.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoringdata rate, latency and other factors on which the one or moreembodiments improve. There may further be an optional networkfunctionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1750 between hostcomputer 1710 and UE 1730, in response to variations in the measurementresults. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality forreconfiguring OTT connection 1750 may be implemented in software 1711and hardware 1715 of host computer 1710 or in software 1731 and hardware1735 of UE 1730, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may bedeployed in or in association with communication devices through whichOTT connection 1750 passes; the sensors may participate in themeasurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantitiesexemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities fromwhich software 1711, 1731 may compute or estimate the monitoredquantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1750 may include messageformat, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; thereconfiguring need not affect base station 1720, and it may be unknownor imperceptible to base station 1720. Such procedures andfunctionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certainembodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalingfacilitating host computer 1710's measurements of throughput,propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may beimplemented in that software 1711 and 1731 causes messages to betransmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTTconnection 1750 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

The wireless device 130 may comprise an arrangement as shown in FIG. 14or in FIG. 17.

The wireless device 130 may comprise an interface unit to facilitatecommunications between the wireless device 130 and other nodes ordevices, e.g., the network node 110, the host computer 1710, or any ofthe other nodes. In some particular examples, the interface may, forexample, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radiosignals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard.

The wireless device 130 may also comprise a client application 1732 or aclient application unit, which may be configured to communicate userdata with a host application unit in a host computer 1710, e.g., viaanother link such as 1750.

The network node 110 may comprise an arrangement as shown in FIG. 15 orin FIG. 17.

The network node 110 may comprise an interface unit to facilitatecommunications between the network node 110 and other nodes or devices,e.g., the wireless device 130, the host computer 1710, or any of theother nodes. In some particular examples, the interface may, forexample, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radiosignals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard.

The network node 110 may also comprise a communication interface 1726 ora radio interface 1727, which may be configured to communicate user datawith a host application unit in a host computer 1710, e.g., via anotherlink such as 1750.

FIG. 18: Methods Implemented in a Communication System Including a HostComputer, a Base Station and a User Equipment in Accordance with SomeEmbodiments

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 18will be included in this section. In step 1810, the host computerprovides user data. In substep 1811 (which may be optional) of step1810, the host computer provides the user data by executing a hostapplication. In step 1820, the host computer initiates a transmissioncarrying the user data to the UE. In step 1830 (which may be optional),the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried inthe transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance withthe teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.In step 1840 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a clientapplication associated with the host application executed by the hostcomputer.

FIG. 19: Methods Implemented in a Communication System Including a HostComputer, a Base Station and a User Equipment in Accordance with SomeEmbodiments

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 19will be included in this section. In step 1910 of the method, the hostcomputer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the hostcomputer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step1920, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user datato the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordancewith the teachings of the embodiments described throughout thisdisclosure. In step 1930 (which may be optional), the UE receives theuser data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 20: Methods Implemented in a Communication System Including a HostComputer, a Base Station and a User Equipment in Accordance with SomeEmbodiments

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 20will be included in this section. In step 2010 (which may be optional),the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionallyor alternatively, in step 2020, the UE provides user data. In substep2021 (which may be optional) of step 2020, the UE provides the user databy executing a client application. In substep 2011 (which may beoptional) of step 2010, the UE executes a client application whichprovides the user data in reaction to the received input data providedby the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed clientapplication may further consider user input received from the user.Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided,the UE initiates, in substep 2030 (which may be optional), transmissionof the user data to the host computer. In step 2040 of the method, thehost computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure.

FIG. 21: Methods Implemented in a Communication System Including a HostComputer, a Base Station and a User Equipment in Accordance with SomeEmbodiments

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 21will be included in this section. In step 2110 (which may be optional),in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. Instep 2120 (which may be optional), the base station initiatestransmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step2130 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user datacarried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefitsdisclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional unitsor modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatusmay comprise a number of these functional units. These functional unitsmay be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one ormore microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digitalhardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs),special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitrymay be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which mayinclude one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, opticalstorage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or datacommunications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one ormore of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, theprocessing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unitto perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics,electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, forexample, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules,processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices,computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks,procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and soon, as such as those that are described herein.

The wireless device 130 embodiments relate to FIG. 6, FIG. 14, and FIGS.17-21.

The network node 110 embodiments relate to FIG. 7, FIG. 15, and FIGS.17-21.

Further Numbered Embodiments

1. A base station configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE),the base station comprising a radio interface and processing circuitryconfigured to perform one or more of the actions described herein asperformed by the network node 110.

5. A communication system including a host computer comprising:

-   -   processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and    -   a communication interface configured to forward the user data to        a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),    -   wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a        radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station's        processing circuitry configured to perform one or more of the        actions described herein as performed by the network node 110.        6. The communication system of embodiment 5, further including        the base station.        7. The communication system of embodiment 6, further including        the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the        base station.        8. The communication system of embodiment 7, wherein:    -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to        execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and    -   the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a        client application associated with the host application.        11. A method implemented in a base station, comprising one or        more of the actions described herein as performed by the network        node 110.        15. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:    -   at the host computer, providing user data; and    -   at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the        user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base        station, wherein the base station performs one or more of the        actions described herein as performed by the network node 110.        16. The method of embodiment 15, further comprising:    -   at the base station, transmitting the user data.        17. The method of embodiment 16, wherein the user data is        provided at the host computer by executing a host application,        the method further comprising:    -   at the UE, executing a client application associated with the        host application.        21. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base        station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing        circuitry configured to perform one or more of the actions        described herein as performed by the wireless device 130.        25. A communication system including a host computer comprising:    -   processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and    -   a communication interface configured to forward user data to a        cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),    -   wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing        circuitry, the UE's processing circuitry configured to perform        one or more of the actions described herein as performed by the        wireless device 130.        26. The communication system of embodiment 25, further including        the UE.        27. The communication system of embodiment 26, wherein the        cellular network further includes a base station configured to        communicate with the UE.        28. The communication system of embodiment 26 or 27, wherein:    -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to        execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and    -   the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client        application associated with the host application.        31. A method implemented in a user equipment (UE), comprising        one or more of the actions described herein as performed by the        wireless device 130.        35. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:    -   at the host computer, providing user data; and    -   at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the        user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base        station, wherein the UE performs one or more of the actions        described herein as performed by the wireless device 130.        36. The method of embodiment 35, further comprising:    -   at the UE, receiving the user data from the base station.        41. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base        station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing        circuitry configured to perform one or more of the actions        described herein as performed by the wireless device 130.        45. A communication system including a host computer comprising:    -   a communication interface configured to receive user data        originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a        base station,    -   wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing        circuitry, the UE's processing circuitry configured to: perform        one or more of the actions described herein as performed by the        wireless device 130.        46. The communication system of embodiment 45, further including        the UE.        47. The communication system of embodiment 46, further including        the base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio        interface configured to communicate with the UE and a        communication interface configured to forward to the host        computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to        the base station.        48. The communication system of embodiment 46 or 47, wherein:    -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to        execute a host application; and    -   the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client        application associated with the host application, thereby        providing the user data.        49. The communication system of embodiment 46 or 47, wherein:    -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to        execute a host application, thereby providing request data; and    -   the UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client        application associated with the host application, thereby        providing the user data in response to the request data.        51. A method implemented in a user equipment (UE), comprising        one or more of the actions described herein as performed by the        wireless device 130.        52. The method of embodiment 51, further comprising:    -   providing user data; and    -   forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission        to the base station.        55. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:    -   at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the        base station from the UE, wherein the UE performs one or more of        the actions described herein as performed by the wireless device        130.        56. The method of embodiment 55, further comprising:    -   at the UE, providing the user data to the base station.        57. The method of embodiment 56, further comprising:    -   at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing the        user data to be transmitted; and    -   at the host computer, executing a host application associated        with the client application.        58. The method of embodiment 56, further comprising:    -   at the UE, executing a client application; and    -   at the UE, receiving input data to the client application, the        input data being provided at the host computer by executing a        host application associated with the client application,    -   wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the        client application in response to the input data.        61. A base station configured to communicate with a user        equipment (UE), the base station comprising a radio interface        and processing circuitry configured to perform one or more of        the actions described herein as performed by the network node        110.        65. A communication system including a host computer comprising        a communication interface configured to receive user data        originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a        base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio        interface and processing circuitry, the base station's        processing circuitry configured to perform one or more of the        actions described herein as performed by the network node 110.        66. The communication system of embodiment 65, further including        the base station.        67. The communication system of embodiment 66, further including        the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the        base station.        68. The communication system of embodiment 67, wherein:    -   the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to        execute a host application;    -   the UE is configured to execute a client application associated        with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be        received by the host computer.        71. A method implemented in a base station, comprising one or        more of the actions described herein as performed by the network        node 110.        75. A method implemented in a communication system including a        host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the        method comprising:    -   at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user        data originating from a transmission which the base station has        received from the UE, wherein the UE performs one or more of the        actions described herein as performed by the wireless device        130.        76. The method of embodiment 75, further comprising:    -   at the base station, receiving the user data from the UE.        77. The method of embodiment 76, further comprising:    -   at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received        user data to the host computer.

Abbreviations

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in thisdisclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations,preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multipletimes below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequentlisting(s).

-   3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project-   5G 5th Generation-   DL Downlink-   eNB E-UTRAN NodeB-   E-UTRA Evolved UTRA-   E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN-   GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network-   gNB Base station in NR-   GSM Global System for Mobile communication-   HSPA High Speed Packet Access-   LTE Long-Term Evolution-   OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing-   UE User Equipment-   UL Uplink-   UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System-   UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access-   UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network-   WCDMA Wide CDMA-   WLAN Wide Local Area Network-   CCCH Common Control Channel-   CE Control Element-   C-RNTI Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier-   PDU Protocol Data Unit-   SDU Service Data Unit-   TA Time Alignment

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a wireless deviceoperating in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:providing a message to be sent to a network node operating in thewireless communications network, the message being a first scheduledmessage to be sent to the network node in a random access procedure, themessage comprising a one byte header prepended to a payload, the headerincluding a first indicator that indicates that the message is of afirst type having a fixed size Service Data Unit (SDU) as the payload,and the header omitting a second indicator indicating a payload length;and initiating sending of the message to the network node.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the header is a Medium Access Control(MAC) subheader, and wherein the first indicator is a value in a LogicalChannel Identity (LCID) field in the MAC subheader.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the value in the LCID field is “110110”.4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the type of the message is afirst type of message among a plurality of types of messages, theplurality of types of message comprising a second type of message,messages of the second type having, with respect to a message payload, avariable size SDU, and having a header that includes the secondindicator to indicate a length of the payload.
 5. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the first indicator is a first value in a firstfield in a Medium Access Control (MAC) subheader, the MAC subheaderfurther comprising a Logical Channel Identity (LCID) field, the LCIDfield comprising a second value.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein the type of message is a first type of message among a pluralityof types of messages, the plurality of types of messages comprising athird type of message, messages of the third type being fixed in size,and comprising one common subheader for: a fixed size Service Data Unit(SDU) and at least one of: a first Medium Access Control (MAC) controlelement being fixed in size, comprising: a second field indicating agroup of one or more logical channels, and a third field comprisingfirst information on a status of a buffer related to the group of theone or more logical channels; and a second MAC control element fixed insize, comprising a fourth field comprising second information on a powerheadroom.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the firstindicator is a fourth value in a Logical Channel Identity (LCID) fieldin a MAC subheader.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein themethod includes selecting the type of the message to be sent to thenetwork node, based on at least one of: a size of a grant received fromthe network node to transmit the message; a preamble sent by thewireless device; and a grouping of the preamble.
 9. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the wireless device is configured to be uplinksynchronized, or connected, with the network node, and wherein themessage further comprises two fields comprising an identifier of thewireless device in a cell, wherein the wireless device is configured tobe served by the network node.
 10. The method according to claim 1,wherein the message is a Msg3 message in the random access procedure.11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the SDU is a Medium AccessControl (MAC) SDU for Common Control Channel (CCCH).
 12. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the wireless communications network isconfigured to operate on New Radio (NR).
 13. A method performed by anetwork node operating in a wireless communications network, the methodcomprising: receiving a message from a wireless device operating in thewireless communications network, the message being a first scheduledmessage received by the network node in a random access procedure, themessage comprising one byte header prepended to a payload, the headerincluding a first indicator that indicates that the message is of afirst type having a fixed size Service Data Unit (SDU) as the payload,and the header omitting a second indicator indicating a payload length;and initiating processing of the message, based on the first indicator.14. A wireless device configured to operate in a wireless communicationsnetwork, the wireless device comprising: processing circuitry; and amemory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processingcircuitry, whereby the wireless device is operative to: provide amessage to be sent to a network node configured to operate in thewireless communications network, the message being a first scheduledmessage to be sent to the network node in a random access procedure, themessage comprising one byte header prepended to a payload, the headerincluding a first indicator that indicates that the message is of afirst type having a fixed size Service Data Unit (SDU) as the payload,and the header omitting a second indicator indicating a payload length;and initiate sending of the message to the network node.
 15. Thewireless device according to claim 14, wherein the header is a MediumAccess Control (MAC) subheader, and wherein the first indicator is avalue in a Logical Channel Identity (LCID) field in the MAC subheader.16. The wireless device according to claim 15, wherein the value in theLCID field is “110110”.
 17. The wireless device according to claim 14,wherein the type of the message is a first type of message among aplurality of types of messages, the plurality of types of messagescomprising a second type of message, messages of the second type having,with respect to a message payload, a variable size SDU, and having aheader that includes the second indicator to indicate a length of thepayload.
 18. The wireless device according to claim 14, wherein thefirst indicator is a first value in a first field in a Medium AccessControl (MAC) subheader, the MAC subheader further comprising a LogicalChannel Identity (LCID) field, the LCID field comprising a second value.19. The wireless device according to claim 14, wherein the type ofmessage is a first type of message among a plurality of types ofmessages, the plurality of types of messages comprising a third type ofmessage, messages of the third type being fixed in size, and comprisingone common subheader for: a fixed size Service Data Unit (SDU) and atleast one of: a first Medium Access Control (MAC) control element beingfixed in size, comprising: a second field indicating a group of one ormore logical channels, and a third field comprising first information ona status of a buffer related to the group of the one or more logicalchannels; and a second MAC control element fixed in size, comprising afourth field comprising second information on a power headroom.
 20. Thewireless device according to claim 19, wherein the first indicator is afourth value in a Logical Channel Identity (LCID) field in a MACsubheader.
 21. The wireless device according to claim 14, whereinexecution of the instructions causes the wireless device to: select thetype of the message to be sent to the network node, based on at leastone of: a size of a grant received from the network node to transmit themessage; a preamble sent by the wireless device; and a grouping of thepreamble.
 22. The wireless device according to claim 14, wherein thewireless device is configured to be uplink synchronized, or connected,with the network node, and wherein the message further comprises twofields comprising an identifier of the wireless device in a cell,wherein the wireless device is configured to be served by the networknode.
 23. The wireless device according to claim 14, wherein the messageis a Msg3 message in the random access procedure.
 24. The wirelessdevice according to claim 14, wherein the SDU is a Medium Access Control(MAC) SDU for Common Control Channel (CCCH).
 25. The wireless deviceaccording to claim 14, wherein the wireless communications network isconfigured to operate on New Radio (NR).
 26. A network node configuredto operate in a wireless communications network, the network nodecomprising: processing circuitry; and a memory, the memory containinginstructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the networknode is operative to: receive a message from a wireless deviceconfigured to operate in the wireless communications network, themessage being a first scheduled message received by the network node ina random access procedure, the message comprising a one byte headerprepended to a payload, the header including a first indicator thatindicates that the message is of a first type having a fixed sizeService Data Unit (SDU) as the payload, and the header omitting a secondindicator indicating a payload length; and initiate processing of themessage, based on the first indicator.
 27. The network node according toclaim 26, wherein the header is a Medium Access Control (MAC) subheader,and wherein the first indicator is a value in a Logical Channel Identity(LCID) field in the MAC subheader.
 28. The network node according toclaim 27, wherein the value in the LCID field is “110110”.
 29. Thenetwork node according to claim 26, wherein the type of message is afirst type of message among a plurality of types of messages, theplurality of types of messages comprising a second type of message,messages of the second type having, with respect to a message payload, avariable size SDU, and having a header that includes the secondindicator to indicate a length of the payload.
 30. The network nodeaccording to claim 26, wherein the first indicator is a first value in afirst field in a Medium Access Control (MAC) subheader, the MACsubheader further comprising a Logical Channel Identity (LCID) field,the LCID field comprising a second value.
 31. The network node accordingto claim 26, wherein the type of message is a first type of messageamong a plurality of types of messages, the plurality of types ofmessages comprising a third type of message, messages of the third typebeing fixed in size, and comprising one common subheader for: a fixedsize SDU and at least one of: a first Medium Access Control (MAC)control element being fixed in size, comprising: a second fieldindicating a group of one or more logical channels, and a third fieldcomprising first information on a status of a buffer related to thegroup of the one or more logical channels; and a second MAC controlelement fixed in size, comprising a fourth field comprising secondinformation on a power headroom.
 32. The network node according to claim31, wherein the first indicator is a fourth value in a Logical ChannelIdentity (LCID) field in a MAC subheader.
 33. The network node accordingto claim 26, wherein the type of message of the received message isbased on at least one of: a size of a grant sent by the network node tothe wireless device to transmit the message; a preamble received fromthe wireless device; and a grouping of the received preamble.
 34. Thenetwork node according to claim 26, wherein the wireless device isconfigured to be uplink synchronized, or connected, with the networknode, and wherein the message further comprises two fields comprising anidentifier of the wireless device in a cell, wherein the network node isconfigured to be serving the wireless device.
 35. The network nodeaccording to claim 26, wherein the message is a Msg3 message in therandom access procedure.
 36. The network node according to claim 26,wherein the SDU is a Medium Access Control (MAC) SDU for Common ControlChannel (CCCH).
 37. The network node according to claim 26, wherein thewireless communications network is configured to operate on New Radio(NR).